Universal drafting glove

ABSTRACT

A drafting glove designed to offer a smoothly gliding interface between the draftsperson&#39;s hand and the glass face of an electronic tablet. It is made of a microfiber as well as a 3D mesh to allow for a thin form fitting design that is cushioned, breathable and non marring. It has but two partial finger pockets for the pinky and ring fingers, and two orifices to accommodate the thumb, index and middle fingers. It is stretchable and washable.

COPYRIGHT STATEMENT

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains materialthat is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has noobjection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent documentor the patent disclosure as it appears in the Patent and TrademarkOffice patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyrightrights whatsoever.

FIELD

The present disclosure relates, in general, to computer aided design(CAD) drafting accessories, and more particularly to a hand glove wornby a CAD and freehand electronic draftsperson.

BACKGROUND

With the advent of tablets, CAD and computerized freehand drafting hastaken on an entirely different format. No longer is the draftspersonconstrained to the movement of a mouse to put strokes, lines and fill onthe electronic medium. Rather, now with the advent of touch screens,electronic pencils, fingers and the like are used to created the work.While this has expanded the intricacy of the works that can be created,especially in freehand drafting, it is not without its own problems.

Since the tablets are planar glass surfaces, any contact with the humanhand deposits oils and debris which, with repeated contact, turns intosmudges, streaks and generally unsightly marks. Since most draftspersonsrest their hand on the glass surface of the tablet, these marks caninterrupt the smooth flow of the motion of their hand while drafting.

Because the tablets are electronically powered, they generate heat,which is dissipated at their planar glass face. This can beuncomfortably warm to the hand and can cause the area of the hand incontact with the tablet to perspire. This again, marks the tablet faceand affects the freehand movement of the draftsperson.

Lastly, if the human hand is too dry or has a film of cream on it, itmay drag inside of sliding across the tablet, again affecting thedraftsperson's work.

While the simple solution would appear to be to wear a glove on thedraftsperson's hand, the reality is that a conventional glove is toorestrictive of the delicate and intricate finger movements that thedraftsperson executes in creating their work.

Henceforth, an aid for freehand drafting on a computer tablet that doesnot hamper the draftsperson's hand movement and eliminates screen markswould fulfill a long felt need in the computerized tablet draftingindustry. This new invention utilizes and combines known and newtechnologies in a unique and novel configuration to overcome theaforementioned problems and accomplish this.

BRIEF SUMMARY

In accordance with various embodiments, a glove for electronicdraftspersons is provided.

In one aspect, a universal (ambidextrous fitting) glove with a nonmarking exterior finish, configured to allow maximum finger dexterity ina physical format that wicks away and dissipates hand moisture, glidessmoothly across glass surfaces, breaths so as to prevent heat buildup,is hypoallergenic and washable, is provided. It is stretchable to ensurea tightly contoured fitting to the hand with a minimal amount ofmaterial and stitching about the finger regions that contact each other.

Various modifications and additions can be made to the embodimentsdiscussed without departing from the scope of the invention. Forexample, while the embodiments described above refer to particularfeatures, the scope of this invention also includes embodiments havingdifferent combination of features and embodiments that do not includeall of the above described features.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A further understanding of the nature and advantages of particularembodiments may be realized by reference to the remaining portions ofthe specification and the drawings, in which like reference numerals areused to refer to similar components.

FIG. 1 is a front view of the electronic drafting glove;

FIG. 2 is a left side view of the electronic drafting glove;

FIG. 3 is a right side view of the electronic drafting glove;

FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the electronic drafting glove;

FIG. 5 is a top view of the electronic drafting glove;

FIG. 6 is a rear view of the electronic drafting glove; and

FIG. 7 is a cross sectional view taken through Section AA of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF CERTAIN EMBODIMENTS

While various aspects and features of certain embodiments have beensummarized above, the following detailed description illustrates atleast on exemplary embodiment in further detail to enable one skilled inthe art to practice such an embodiment. The described example isprovided for illustrative purposes and is not intended to limit thescope of the invention.

In the following description, for the purposes of explanation, numerousspecific details are set forth in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding of the described embodiment/s. It will be apparent to oneskilled in the art, however, that other embodiments of the presentinvention may be practiced without some of these specific details.Certain structures and devices may be shown in block diagram form. Whilevarious features are ascribed to different embodiments, it should beappreciated that the features described with respect to one embodimentmay be incorporated with other embodiments as well. By the same token,however, no single feature or features of any described embodimentshould be considered essential to every embodiment of the invention, asother embodiments of the invention may omit such features.

In this description, the directional prepositions of up, upwardly, down,downwardly, front, back, top, upper, bottom, lower, left, right andother such terms refer to the device as it is oriented and appears inthe drawings and are used for convenience only; they are not intended tobe limiting or to imply that the device has to be used or positioned inany particular orientation.

Unless otherwise indicated, all numbers herein used to expressquantities, dimensions, and so forth, should be understood as beingmodified in all instances by the term “about.” In this application, theuse of the singular includes the plural unless specifically statedotherwise, and use of the terms “and” and “or” means “and/or” unlessotherwise indicated. Moreover, the use of the term “including,” as wellas other forms, such as “includes” and “included,” should be considerednon-exclusive. Also, terms such as “element” or “component” encompassboth elements and components comprising one unit and elements andcomponents that comprise more than one unit, unless specifically statedotherwise.

The term “universal” as used herein with reference to the draftingglove, means that the same glove is able to be worn on either the rightor left hand equally as well. The lay of the material and the design ofthe stitching are mirror images when taken across a plane that residesparallel to and midway between the front and rear planar faces of theglove.

The term “tablet” as used herein refers to an electronic drafting devicehaving a planar glass surface on which the draftsperson rests theirdrafting hand when drawing. The tablet is sensitive to the strokes thedraftsperson makes on its glass surface with a drafting tool (electronicor touch sensitive pencil) so as to translate the stoke patterns onto avisually displayed and electronic media.

The term “3D mesh” as used herein, refers to a breathable compressibleelastically deformable three dimensional polyester sandwich clothingfabric having a high air permeability and a thickness in the range of3-20 mm. It is generally waterproof, anti-bacterial and is alsocommercially referred to as 3D knitted spacer fabric. 3D spacer fabricsreplace layers of foam or neoprene that degrade, yellow and are notenvironmentally friendly. It is often made of both a polyester and anylon woven together.

The term “microfiber’ as used herein, refers to a synthetic fiber finerthan one denier or decitex/thread. It is smaller than the diameter of astrand of silk (approximately one denier.) The microfiber fabric may bemade from polyesters, polyamides (e.g., nylon, Kevlar, Nomex,trogamide), or a conjugation of polyester, polyamide, and polypropylene(Prolen).

The term “LYCRA®” as used herein refers to a synthetic elastane fiberthat can repeatedly, elastically stretch up to six times its length andreturn to its original state. The fabric bearing the trade name SPANDEX®is an equivalent type of synthetic elastane fiber.

The present invention relates to a novel design for a universal fitdrafting glove intended for use by draftspersons working on a tablet orglass faced electronic drawing apparatus. The design is intended toalleviate marking on the glass surface, prevent heat buildup between thehand and the device, to breath so as to eliminate moisture developed onthe hand, provide a consistent coefficient of friction between thedrafting hand and the glass surface, and most importantly, allow maximumof freedom of movement of the thumb, index and middle fingers, which arethe digits used to hold the drafting tool (electronic or touch pencil).

When drafting on a tablet, the draftsperson holds the proximal end ofthe drafting tool in a triangulated configuration between the tip of thethumb, the tip of the index finger and the joint between the distal andmiddle phalanx of the middle finger. The distal end of the drafting toolrests on the joint between the proximal phalanx and the metacarpal ofthe index finger. The middle and proximal phalanx of the middle fingerrests on the middle and proximal phalanx of the ring finger with thedistal phalanx of the middle finger suspended off of the middle phalanxof the ring finger. The distal, middle and proximal phalanx of the ringfinger in turn rests and is supported by the distal, middle and proximalphalanx of the pinky finger. The entire drafting hand contacts the glassface of the table on the side of the fleshy abductor digiti muscle aboutthe pinky metacarpal. It is to be noted that the pinky finger curlsupward into the palm when drafting so that the flesh along the distaland middle phalanx does not contact the glass face of the tablet.

For descriptive purposes and to understand the design of this glove itis important to note that this fleshy abductor digiti muscle is thesurface that must glide consistently with the same amount of frictionacross the glass face of the tablet. It is equally important to notethat since the drafting tool contacts the the tip of the thumb, the tipof the index finger, the joint between the distal and middle phalanx ofthe middle finger and the joint between the proximal phalanx and themetacarpal of the index finger, these areas must have maximum freedom ofmovement and be as sensitive to touch as possible. It is these twofeatures that allow the artist/draftsperson to retain their precisionand accuracy in drafting while wearing a glove. The glove was designedto maintain the critical “glide” and “freedom of movement.”

Looking at FIGS. 1 and 6, all elements of the drafting glove 2 can beseen. The glove 2 is made from but four different materials. A 3D meshfabric (partial pinky finger and abductor digiti region of the palm), amicrofiber fabric (remainder of the body of the glove), a polymer thread(all glove zig-zag and in-line surge stitching) and a synthetic elastanefiber binding edge fabric, preferably a Lycra® or Spandex® material,(around the wrist, thumb and index/middle finger openings as well as thefinger insert panel 12). The 3D mesh fabric does not have the stretchcapability of the microfiber so lycra (which is thinner that themicrofiber is used between the pinky and ring finger to minimize thethickness of the pinky finger (which is mostly clothed in 3D meshfabric, to allow expansion/stretch of the pinky finger pocket toaccommodate different diameter pinky fingers.

Looking at FIGS. 1 and 6 with reference to FIGS. 2 and 5 it can be seenthat if the the drafting glove 2 were cut about its axial midpoint on aplane parallel to the front and rear faces of the glove, the twoportions would be mirror images. However, the glove is not made byjoining two mirror image halves. As such, the glove fits either theright hand or the left hand equally as well. It is not symmetricalbecause the two faces of the 3D fabric have different opening sizes. Theoutside has a 2×2.5 mm approximate opening size and the inside has amuch smaller opening by at least a factor of five.

The drafting glove 2 is made from 8 components. Two mirror image palmbody panels 4 (FIGS. 1, 2 and 6), the palm side panel (the glidingsurface) 6, the three banding strips 8, the finger insert panel 12 andthe stitching thread 10. In the preferred embodiment the palm side panel6 is a 3D mesh fabric, the palm body panels 4 are made of a microfibercloth, the and the finger insert panel 12 is made of a syntheticelastane fiber, the banding strips 8 are a synthetic elastane fiber andthe stitching thread 10 is a polyester thread. The palm body 4 and thepalm side 6 each form approximately half of the assembled glove.

The two palm body panels 4 are identical sections of microfiber fabricthat house the thumb orifice 14, index finger and middle finger orifice16 and ring finger pocket 18 (FIGS. 5 and 6). They have a thumb sideedge 20 and a palm side edge 22. The thumb side side edges 20 are matedtogether, folded inwardly back onto themselves and stitched togetheradjacent their folded edges 20 in three separate regions along the thumbside edge. These three separate joined regions defines the thumb orifice14 and the index and middle finger orifice 16 between the three stitchjoined regions. About the thumb orifice 14 and the index and middlefinger orifice 16 are linear sections of banding strips 8 that arefolded approximately equidistant on either side (inside and outside) ofthe edge of the orifices and sewn about the edge with the stitchingthread 10, preferably with a zig-zag stitch so as to allow thestretching of the orifices sizes upon insertion of the thumb and indexand middle fingers. (FIG. 7). The palm side edges 22 are each foldedback onto themselves then laid atop of the longitudinal side edges ofthe the palm side panel 6, which are also folded back onto themselves,and the palm side edges 22 of each of the two palm body panels 4 and thepalm side panel 6 are joined by an overlying zig-zag stitch of stitchingfabric 10 up to the finger insert panel 12. The remainder of the palmbody panels 4 and the palm side panel 6 are stitched to the two linearedges of the interposed finger insert panel 4.

The finger insert panel 14 is a rectangular, linear strip of syntheticelastane fiber that has two, generally parallel, linear edges about itslongitudinal axis. Each of these linear, longitudinal edges are stitchedto both the palm side panel 6 and the ring finger pocket 18. In this waythey hold the palm body panels 4 in a spaced configuration so as to forma microfiber pocket for the insertion of the ring finger and a 3D meshpocket for the insertion of the pinky finger.

When stitched together into a glove assembly, the ring finger pocketterminates in an open end that resides approximate midway along themiddle phalange of the ring finger. It has no banding or stitching aboutits opening. The pinky finger pocket terminates in an open end thatresides approximately at the joint between the distal and middlephalanges of the pinky finger. About the perimeter of the opening ofthis pocket is a ring of thread formed in a surge stich to keep the 3Dmesh fabric from fraying. By having these finger pockets terminating atdifferent lengths, and by not incorporating banding strips about theiropenings, there is minimal friction and thickness between these fingers.This helps maintain the minimalistic feel of the glove, allowing thedexterity freedom the artist needs.

It is to be noted that while the entire side of the palm needs to beclothed in the 3D mesh fabric with its low coefficient of friction withglass, the pinky finger needs 3D mesh fabric only partially up the pinkyfinger because in the drafting position, resting on the tablet, thepinky finger curls inward and upward toward the palm such that that itrises off the glass face of tablet and breaks contact with the tablet inthe region of the joint between its proximal and middle phlanges. Asdiscussed earlier the pinky finger pocket is made of both 3D mesh fabricas well as synthetic elastane fiber to allow for stretch of the fingerpocket diameter, and minimize the thickness of fabric between the ringand pinky finger.

Because of the varying sizes of different artist's hands the glove ismade in different sizes, however because of the elastic nature of boththe microfiber and the 3D mesh and the zig-zag stitch used to combinethe components, the glove is sized small such that when it is worn ithugs the hand tightly without wrinkles or puckers in the fabric. Thereis a banding strip 8 attached the wrist opening 30 (FIG. 4) in theidentical fashion as the banding strips 8 about the thumb orifice 14 andthe index and middle finger orifice 16. (FIG. 7) This helps eliminateglove creep or movement of the glove up the hand.

To use, the hand is inserted through the writ opening 30 with the thumbinserted through the thumb orifice 14 and the index and middle fingersinserted through the index and middle finger orifice 16. The ring fingerand pinky finger are inserted into their respective finger pockets so asto extend beyond the open ends. The drafting glove 2 is then pulledtightly toward the upper arm to snug the glove onto the hand andeliminate any space between the drafting glove 2 and the crotch betweenthe pinky and ring fingers and the crotch between the middle and ringfingers.

In use, the side of the palm may now glide smoothly on the tablet'sglass face while eliminating marks on the glass, dissipating the heatbuildup off the tablet face and allowing the hand to breath. The fingersand thumb used to triangulate the drafting tool are unclothed so as toallow a natural feel responsive to the artist's movements.

While certain features and aspects have been described with respect toexemplary embodiments, one skilled in the art will recognize thatnumerous modifications are possible. For example, the methods andprocesses described herein may be implemented using hardware components,software components, and/or any combination thereof. Further, whilevarious methods and processes described herein may be described withrespect to particular structural and/or functional components for easeof description, methods provided by various embodiments are not limitedto any particular structural and/or functional architecture, but insteadcan be implemented on any suitable hardware, firmware, and/or softwareconuration. Similarly, while certain functionality is ascribed tocertain system components, unless the context dictates otherwise, thisfunctionality can be distributed among various other system componentsin accordance with the several embodiments.

Moreover, system components described according to a particularstructural architecture and/or with respect to one system may beorganized in alternative structural architectures and/or incorporatedwithin other described systems. Hence, while various embodiments aredescribed with—or without—certain features for ease of description andto illustrate exemplary aspects of those embodiments, the variouscomponents and/or features described herein with respect to a particularembodiment can be substituted, added, and/or subtracted from among otherdescribed embodiments, unless the context dictates otherwise.Consequently, it will be appreciated that the invention is intended tocover all modifications and equivalents within the scope of the claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desiredto be secured by Letters Patent is as follows:
 1. A universal draftingglove comprising: a first and second mirror image palm body panels eachhaving a thumb side edge and a palm side edge; a palm side panel havinga first longitudinal side edge and a second longitudinal side edge; afinger insert panel having a first and second generally parallel, linearedges; and stitching thread; wherein said first and second palm bodypanels are joined by stitching thread along three sections of said thumbside edge so as to form a thumb orifice and an index and middle fingerorifice; and wherein said first longitudinal side edge of said palm sidepanel is joined for a first length to said palm side edge of said firstpalm body panel by stitching thread, and said second longitudinal sideedge of said palm side panel is joined for a second length to said palmside edge of said second palm body panel by stitching thread; andwherein said said first longitudinal side edge of said palm side panelis joined for a third length to said first linear edge of said fingerinsert panel by stitching thread, and said second longitudinal side edgeof said palm side panel is joined for a fourth length to said secondlinear edge of said finger insert panel by stitching thread; and whereinsaid first and second palm body panels are joined to said first andsecond linear edges of said finger insert panel by stitching thread soas to form an open pinkey finger pocket and an open ring finger pocket;and wherein said connected palm body panels, said palm side panel andsaid finger insert panel form a glove with a wrist opening, said thumborifice, said index and middle finger orifice, said pinkey finger pocketand said ring finger pocket.
 2. The universal drafting glove of claim 1further comprising: a first banding strip affixed about said thumborifice, and a second banding strip affixed about said index and middlefinger orifice.
 3. The universal drafting glove of claim 2 furthercomprising a third banding strip affixed about said wrist opening. 4.The universal drafting glove of claim 3 wherein said palm side panel ismade of a 3D mesh fabric.
 5. The universal drafting glove of said claim4 wherein said palm body panels are made of a microfiber.
 6. Theuniversal drafting glove of said claim 4 wherein said finger insert isrectangular in shape and made of a synthetic elastane fiber.
 7. Theuniversal drafting glove of claim 1 wherein said pinkey finger pocketterminates in said open end that resides approximately at the jointbetween the distal and middle phalanges of a pinky finger.
 8. Theuniversal drafting glove of claim 1 wherein said ring finger pocketterminates in said open end that resides approximate midway along themiddle phalange of a ring finger.
 9. The universal drafting glove ofclaim 3 wherein said banding strips are made of a synthetic elastanefiber.